Just FOUR golfers pay up for membership at Scottish golf club

Leslie Golf Club faces financial strain due to the coronavirus pandemic...

Sun, 17 May 2020

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A golf club in Scotland fears "potential disaster" after just four golfers paid for memberships for this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report in The Scotsman.

Leslie Golf Club in Fife was founded way back in 1898 and comprises of a 9-hole course designed by legendary Tom Morris.

The club had some 80 members 10 years ago, and then dropped to 40 registered members in 2019.

But following the coronavirus pandemic and the financial strains that have come with that for many locals, only four golfers have stumped up for the £165 annual subscription.

The club is now feeling the pinch, as a result.

"Money we expected to bring in for membership this year has never arrived due to the COVID-19 situation, and we were relying on that to maintain our course maintenance and greens machinery and for daily running costs," the club's treasury and social secretary Susan Vines told The Scotsman.

"Also, plans to bring on board more volunteers were scuppered due to this crisis."

She added: "It is potentially disastrous. To date, we have four paid memberships for this year out of 40 registered members we had last year.

"A decade ago, we had around 80-plus members. On top of that, we have no current business bringing in finance due to the current crisis. Until we regenerate the club fully, and build membership over the next five years, we are operating month to month."

Golf courses are currently closed in Scotland, despite them opening up in England, Wales and Ireland, but the Sunday Times has reported Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will reveal plans to reopen golf courses in the country in an announcement this week.